The game of golf is certainly a challenge to play, but a frustration to many. Oftentimes, the average player becomes most frustrated in his poor performance around the hole.
In an 18-hole round of golf, par for the course usually is allotted to include some thirty-six putts on the greens. How many occasional, weekend, or even frequent golfers fail to obtain the standard two putts per green, but instead blow up to a 3-putt, 4-putt, or unspeakably-higher-putt hole, is, most mercifully, actually unknown. However, that number is widely acknowledged to be exceedingly high, and the prime cause of many a high final score.
The standard theory is, with the first putting stroke, from the far away lie, to putt up to a position close around the hole, and on the next stroke tap the ball into the cup. Many golfers, though, feel compelled to go straight for the hole, often bypassing or falling short of it by a great distance, if even lined up with the hole. Rolling terrain or imperfections on the green complicate matters, of course.
The chip shot may be considered in appropriate circumstances to be a long putt, with the first portion of the shot causing the ball to be in flight rather than to roll along the ground. The object of the chip shot is to position the ball fairly close to the cup so that a short putt may be taken. However, like the putt, many golfers aim for the pin or hole, and have little touch with this type of shot, when it is touch that is needed. Consequently, their short game falters, and their score mounts.
In addressing the problem, golf instructors usually stress practice, and this is indispensable. However, with ineffective practice comes ineffective play on the course.
One method of practice involves putting on a putting practice green which has grass or sand to match that on the actual course. The putting practice green has a number of holes, generally of the same size as those on the actual course, set therein, at which the golfer aims and into which the ball may drop. However valuable this practice may be, and it can be of high value, especially immediately before beginning an actual game, it in itself usually facilitates any development of touch slowly over a long time through much repeated practice. It is the trial and error method, unmodified, and unless the theories are kept well in mind while putting, which can be very difficult, the student of the game finds that he has developed little putting skill.
Another method involves the use of devices such as rug, brush or artificial turf mats, with a hole cut out for the cup, into which the ball drops. These may be of some value, as with the putting practice green, but suffer from similar drawbacks, if not worse, depending on design, and so forth.
Other methods involve using portable, artificial cups.
For example, a well-known artificial putting cup, in general, has a flat, disc-like base with tiltable, levered leaves about its perimeter. Each leaf rests with its outer edge down and its inner part up. A golf ball can roll over the leaves to enter the disc center but cannot exit from the center of the disc to the outside. However, drawbacks of this device include an unnatural appearance; the necessity of ball speed to achieve enough momentum to ram the ball into the cup; and the inability to develop touch, which is to say that achieving a correct putting distance remains a problem, particularly when the ball is shot so hard.
As another example, a commercially available wedge putting cup has a truncated oval shape and forms a ramp onto which a ball rolls up when putted. A hole in the ramp is present, and it is into the hole which has a back wall about 1/2-inch in height that the ball is to be contained. A flag may be inserted behind the hole for a marker. This device, too, has its drawbacks, which include its wedge shape which requires the ball to have enough speed to achieve enough momentum to roll up the ramp to the hole, and the high walled hole design. Thus, this device has an inability to develop touch.
Although some of the foregoing devices may help develop aim, again, none effectively develops touch, especially over a relatively short period. What accordingly is lacking and needed in the art are ways and means to develop touch with putting, chipping, and so forth shots, especially putting.